Riverdale Season 2 Casts Charles Melton As New Reggie Mantle

Riverdale has found a new Reggie Mantle in Charles Melton. Season 1 of Riverdale received generally good ratings and reviews, proving itself as yet another comic book-based hit for The CW. The first season has come to an end, with the penultimate episode unmasking Jason Blossom’s killer – solving the season-long mystery. Now, season 2 is already setting up plenty of new scandals to worry the characters and entertain the audience.

Even though the season just ended, there is already plenty of casting news to excite fans. Casey Cott, who was recurring as Kevin Keller in season 1, has been upgraded to a regular cast member. Mark Consuelos has been cast as the often mentioned but so far unseen Hiram Lodge – a casting decision that was not made final until the news came that Pitch had been canceled. And Reggie Mantle, previously played by Ross Butler, needed to be recast. Butler, who is a regular on 13 Reasons Why is too busy to continue filming Riverdale.

According to TVLine, The CW has found their new Reggie Mantle. Actor Charles Melton will take over the role starting in season 2. Melton achieved success as a model before breaking into acting. He appeared on an episode of Glee and two of American Horror Story: Hotel, making Reggie Mantle his third role and his biggest. Butler posted a video to Twitter expressing his support of the casting decision.

In his video, Butler expressed his gratitude to The CW and Riverdale for casting an Asian-American actor in a role that was traditionally Caucasian in the comics. He thanked them further for casting another Asian-America with Melton and made it clear he supports the new Reggie.

In the comics Reggie and Archie are sometimes friends and sometimes rivals, often competing for the attention of Veronica Lodge. Reggie is wealthy and a bit stuck up in the books, but is also a star athlete and a talented musician. He’s possibly best known as a prankster, pulling off elaborate practical jokes on his classmates.

Reggie was largely absent from season 1 of Riverdale, mostly showing up in early episodes and coming across as a bit of a bully. His biggest story came when he and Archie were competing over who would be Captain of the football team. Archie won at the end of the episode, and Reggie conceded, but Archie turned it down and gave the job to Reggie instead. He appeared in six of the first seven episodes, and then vanished for the rest of the season. Perhaps now that Melton is taking over the role, Reggie’s story will finally be told.

Next: What to Expect in Riverdale Season 2

Riverdale will return for season 2 on The CW.

Source: TVLine, Ross Butler